Auberge du Jardin

Despite the warm reception, clean place, and tasty breakfast, we will not be returning to this business that lacks compassion and empathy. We arrived Thursday May 30. The property outside and inside was immaculate. We were warmly welcomed by the young woman at the reception. We said we planned to hike Le Sentier de la Montagne Blanche and she was very generous with her suggestions also telling us that she knew the area well because she came here quite often from Saguenay to ski. I asked about having supper there, based on what we saw on the website. She said that supper was not available there for a year or two and they just took over ownership of the property and didn’t have the codes yet to update the website. She gave us a couple of helpful recommendations of where we could get food. They would be serving breakfast in the morning, though. We had room #11, which did not have an outside entrance. She did not know how we would access the inside of the building after hours. There were two keys attached to the oversized piece of wood for our room and we finally figured out all together that one of the keys worked for the back door. After purchasing a sandwich and fruit at the nearby grocery store, we enjoyed some TV while eating in the common area. We met no one else in the common area during the whole time we were there. The place is very beautiful, inside and out. The next morning, we appeared to be the first guests for breakfast, which was quite good. Other guests arrived as we left to do our hike. Le Sentier de la Montagne Blanche quickly became my second favourite hike in all of Québec, only after le Sentier Le Pioui et Mont-du-Lac-des-Cygnes and just before L’Acropole-des-Draveurs. I am looking forward to doing this hike at least once each year as my wife and I are looking to our retirements. Arriving back at the Auberge du Jardin, hot and sweaty and ready for a shower, we were unpleasantly surprised to find that a fire at the ski center near another village 10 minutes away caused a power outage. The same receptionist explained that the ski center and the village of Petit-Saguenay were on the same Hydro-Québec circuit, much to their dismay. It appeared that outings caused by the ski center had happened a number of times before. She did not seem empowered to be able to help us decide what to do. We found a hotel in Saguenay that had not lost electrical power and booked a night there. We could not check out as there was no electricity. A short while during our drive to Saguenay we receive a phone call from the Auberge du Jardin. The receptionist called to let us know that electricity had come back on. It seemed a bit strange to us, since we had just booked another hotel room for that night, and since it was less than 24 hours before check in, we couldn’t cancel it without penalty unless there were unforeseen circumstances. And besides, given the fire situation, there would be no guarantee that the power would even stay on at the Auberge

What an outstanding gem of a B&B. Beautiful facility, gorgeous grounds, wonderful meals on site and amazing hosts. We cannot say enough about the place. Highly highly recommended in every respect. Chris & Diane Arnew, Smithville, Ontario Sept 5, 2022